Gianni & Gaitano's

A restaurant, a vision, a passion, that keeps on growing and evolving. We (Gianni and Gaitano) are the younger brothers of Joseph and Peter Cinelli and the proud sons of Amelia and Armando Cinelli - two Italian immigrants who brought their three young sons (Giuseppe, Pietro and Gianni) to America from a mountainside town called Monte San Giovanni, just outside of Rome. We also have a sister AnnaMaria who resides for now in Florida, but that's another story. Monte San Giovanni is known as the "Cittia di Oliva", the City of Olives. We just found out this year that the Castle that sits on top of the mountain was owned by the St. Thomas Aquinas family. There, St. Thomas Aquinas was actually imprisoned by his own mother so he wouldn't take up a life as a holy man and instead marry a countess so the family fortunes would grow. Ironically, through the opportunities and wealth gained here in the United States, my mother's family, the Mastrantoni's, now own that Castle. The castle and church where we were baptized dates back to the 12th century. This is the time that dates the beginning of a whole town and the people who have lived there. The Cinelli family traces back to Florence and has a history of military importance. It is said that at one time the Cinelli family ancestors were the "Captain of the Guard" in the Florentine army. Today, we are trying to gather proof to tie in many families of Northern ancestry to Monte San Giovanni and the castle that is called Castello Rocco, the "Castle of Rock." The castle itself literally comes out of the mountain and sits so high it was used for military purposes. Hence the town was created for military defensives during the 11th & 12th century and families were gathered to protect and serve. This connects our family and many others that have wondered how they wound up in this little mountain town.